New life for TD kits? Opinions?

[scurvy]

I just posted a pic of the ScallyWagon in fritz's thread about his Ice T, and it got me to thinking. I didn't want to hijack his thread, so here it goes:

I was looking at the ScallyWagon

Other than the wedge chop and a few details, the main modification to this car was all in the rolling stock - the suspension and engine remain basically unchanged. This brought a question to mind - could Revell-Monogram find new young customers by adding some new decals and modern rolling stock alternatives to our favorite showrods?

Imagine the Red Baron with an extra set of large diameter propeller-blade themed wheels and tires to match. Mold it in red, but add "Blue Max" decals to the mix, and market this as a two-in-one kit that still has all the kid-friendly buildability and whimsical charm of the original, but now with a more modern twist! (while you're making up a tree with new wheels, maybe you could add disc brakes and an EFI intake)

The Beer Wagon could be molded in silver with black barrels and stake sides, a set of large and gigantic diameter wheels with low-profile tires, and "Chopper's Lube Shop" decals in addition to the regular child-friendly "Cola Wagon" decals. Radioactive colors with hazardous waste decals could be another option, as could the revell "Rat Rod" wide whitewalls (duals in the rear) on Budd truck-style wheels and with some funky kulture-style logos?

How about the Lil' Van with the same big rolling stock and a turbo kit?

I'm sure you guys have a bunch more great ideas...

[stevehammann]

Keep a goin' Scurv, your doing fine!

[Honest Charlie]

It's a wonder they haven't tried something like you write here about Dave. JL, Jada, HW, ect.... does it with all there cars. All it would take is small things like wheels/tires, decals, skeletons. Not to mention Box art. ;D

Here's a BW just painted a different color and it makes a big difference, don't you think? (It's not mine)

[Deleted]

OR....Bud wagon........

[chief]

ALL thre of those ;D NICE BUILD UPS and like you all state not that much to change a few things to make them more money,which seems to be the MAIN thing to them,my 2 cents..............Chief

[Alan Alexis (stavanzer)]

I'll second Dave's motion. Is there any way we could encourage T.D. to help R/M choose what to do?
The "Bling" wheels/tires idea sounds like a great way to squeeze lots more money from existing tools with a small outlay for new tooling.
(rant on)
I also know that R/M will not see it that way.
New decals, artwork and box art, are not cheap,and add to that the cost of tooling new wheels and you have thousands of dollars invested. Unless you can guarantee R/M at LEAST an 250% return on the many millions of dollars they would invest and also insure them from the thousands of angry letters from offended customers, the whole deal is off.
(rant off)
Lets try it.
I'll buy old kits with new wheels.
It worked for those ****** 'Donks' it should work for showrods.
They have done this already.

[ira]

Great Idea Dave!!!

[scurvy]

stavanzer said:

.
(rant on)
I also know that R/M will not see it that way.
New decals, artwork and box art, are not cheap,and add to that the cost of tooling new wheels and you have thousands of dollars invested. Unless you can guarantee R/M at LEAST an 250% return on the many millions of dollars they would invest and also insure them from the thousands of angry letters from offended customers, the whole deal is off.
(rant off)
Lets try it.
I'll buy old kits with new wheels.
It worked for those ****** 'Donks' it should work for showrods.
They have done this already.

My idea would be to make them 2in1's... let the builder decide if he want's to build a classic showrod kit or to do a more modern take on it. How about the Vandal with the tires from the Escalade in the rear and the low-pros from the "Tuner" series (Integra, Civic, Focus, etc.) in front? Maybe a 42" plasma screen and a couple of speaker enclosures for the interior? The Bad Actor/Street Fighter and the Vega Van could do with a similar treatment.

How about a Baja Beast with a sportbike-style fairing for the minibike and some modern rolling stock?

I'd like to see rolling stock from the racing Corvettes under the Corvette SS Hatchback, and maybe a modern fuel injection system... NOS tanks for under the "hatch"?

Dave

[Deleted]

They can change anything the want, If it reissues old kits!

[Alan Alexis (stavanzer)]

As Dave points out, New wheels/ tires have already been tooled by R/M. They would just have to use the ones out of the Donks/Tuners/Vettes/Ect. T.d. (if given the incentive $$$$$$$) might be willing desing new decal sheets for a series of new kits.
Doing it this way could eliminate the need for creating any tooling.
(perhaps new wheel backs)

(more rant)
Again I remain sceptical about R/M. We can see the business case for this,but I doubt they will. And, after the pasting the "Donks" get, we'll be hard pressed to get them to take another risk.
That said, Please, please let me be wrong! I'd really unload a lot of dollars on old T.D. kits with new decals, paint schemes and wheels. New wine in an old bottle.
(rant off)

I promise no more rants about this.

[ramone]

I think the TD kits era fine the way they are, they are timeless!!!!!
In a hundred years from now they still be fresh and sparkling.

[Honest Charlie]

ramone said:

I think the TD kits era fine the way they are, they are timeless!!!!!
In a hundred years from now they still be fresh and sparkling.

I agree Ramone, we are just thinking of a way to attract more young modelers to buy kits. They can just add some wheels & tire options and maybe some optional decals. No need to mess with the original designs , that's for sure.

[ramone]

Charlie, I think the problem is there aren't that many youngsters who are interested in modeling as a hobby i mean look at us guys and our ages!!!! i myself think Sony, Nintendo and televidion are to blame. My local hobby shop closed down because nobody wants to be creative any more!!!

[Honest Charlie]

This is true Ramone. Our local HS shut down a few years ago now. At one time that was the hot hangout to be. Slot Car tracks, trains to watch and plenty of models to be had. I spent half of my pay check there many times to help support them. Places like Hobby Town USA ,and Hobby Lobby just aren't the same as the Ma & Pa shops were.

[davea]

:'(Charlie and Ramone, you guys are right- modeling is not the chosen hobby of kids today, for the most part. There are a few who are interested, though not that many. My own son tried it a few years ago, but video games were more "fun"- so that means my huge collection will be left to someone else or sold when I'm gone. We're the ones keeping this hobby going. About 10 years ago I hired some neighborhood kids to help me with some yardwork, and while we took a break in the house, they got to see some of my model collection and builds- they didn't know what they were, anything about them!

[Paul B. Canney]

It's ^our job to pass this on to our children/grand children

davea said:

:'(Charlie and Ramone, you guys are right- modeling is not the chosen hobby of kids today, for the most part. There are a few who are interested, though not that many. My own son tried it a few years ago, but video games were more "fun"- so that means my huge collection will be left to someone else or sold when I'm gone. We're the ones keeping this hobby going. About 10 years ago I hired some neighborhood kids to help me with some yardwork, and while we took a break in the house, they got to see some of my model collection and builds- they didn't know what they were, anything about them!

[ShowRodFreak Don V.]

Hey Paul
Can I have that extra Eye.......LOL

oneyed

[ramone]

I'll guess it's up to us then...!!!!!!

[Zombie61]

pbcanney said:

It's ^our job to pass this on to our children/grand children

davea said:

:'(Charlie and Ramone, you guys are right- modeling is not the chosen hobby of kids today, for the most part. There are a few who are interested, though not that many. My own son tried it a few years ago, but video games were more "fun"- so that means my huge collection will be left to someone else or sold when I'm gone. We're the ones keeping this hobby going. About 10 years ago I hired some neighborhood kids to help me with some yardwork, and while we took a break in the house, they got to see some of my model collection and builds- they didn't know what they were, anything about them!

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."

I've been a surrogate father for two young men for roughly 12 years now (they were 9 and 12 years old when my wife and I met their mother--long story). Several years ago they took an interest in building models when they found out it was one of my fascinations in life. I taught them the basics, and they lost interest after two or three kits.

Much as I hate to admit it, building a model takes far too long for most people (i.e., "youngsters") in this age of advanced technology and instant gratification. I've heard people complain about purchasing an out-of-the-box collectible and having to apply their own stickers.

In my opinion, unless the kits are being re-tooled to be more accurate to the original source, leave 'em alone and re-issue 'em in their original form, decals and box-art included. Kids aren't going to care one way or the other, and changing them will only turn away those of us who want the original kits. Of course, that's just my opinion; I could be wrong...

[gwangiboy]

zombie61 said:

Much as I hate to admit it, building a model takes far too long for most people (i.e., "youngsters") in this age of advanced technology and instant gratification. I've heard people complain about purchasing an out-of-the-box collectible and having to apply their own stickers.

Sounds like when I helped out a former co-worker's son with his Cub Scout pinewood car ... I ended up doing most of the work as he had really no interest in touching it, not even the decals -- which, when I was his age, was the best part of finishing a model or even on a Hot Wheels toy! He did tell people he was the one who picked out the colors for the paint job.

He did like the Dremel tho, and asked his mom if he could get one. She said no.